


Of Captains And Doctors

by woodsong_1978 (Vae)



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Firefly
Genre: Crossover, M/M, whofly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-06
Updated: 2012-12-06
Packaged: 2017-11-20 11:46:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/585080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vae/pseuds/woodsong_1978
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Serenity picks up a passenger... and maybe a pilot?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Captains And Doctors

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the Whofly community on Livejournal, for everysingleway. That comm's gone, so I can't remember when I first posted it. 
> 
> This is recreated from a beta'd draft - thanks to lvs2read for the beta, apologies for any remaining errors or inconsistencies from what anyone remembers of the original. 
> 
> Firefly and characters are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Energy. Jack Harkness is the property of the BBC. I make no claim of ownership to the characters or worlds, and I make no profit from this.

Simon paused at the top of the stairs. There was a stranger in the cargo bay. An unknown man, bent over River's hand. A man who could be anyone, could know anyone, could have any sort of intentions, could be connected with the Academy, with the Alliance…

"Doctor." The captain glanced up, noticing him. "Just in time. We're taking on a passenger. Come meet and greet."

At the captain's words the stranger had stiffened, looking up quickly, directly at Simon. Simon had an instant's impression of tension and almost panic, followed by instant relaxation, warm blue-grey eyes and a dazzling smile that shook him to the core. The man looked away, and Simon descended the stairs slowly.

"Okay, so you've met River. Kaylee here's our mechanic, keeps us all flying."

The stranger took Kaylee's hand and raised it to his lips. Kaylee pulled it away, just slightly too late for it to be a natural reaction, giggling and blushing. "Nice to meet you."

"Zoë's my first mate. Anything you need to know, you can't find me, you ask her."

Zoë nodded coolly at the stranger. "Captain."

Simon hesitated just past the landing. Captain? Surely they already had one captain, wasn't that enough?

The man grinned, and kissed Zoë's hand. She twitched it away, glaring, and folded her arms.

The captain frowned. "Zoë, he's paying a fare. Don't kill him."

"Do my best, sir." Zoë turned on her heel and left the bay rapidly.

"And this here's our medic. Doctor, Captain Jack Harkness. Gonna be riding with us far as Beaumonde."

"Do you have a name, Doctor?" Jack Harkness turned his full attention onto Simon. It was rather distracting.

Simon glanced briefly at Serenity's captain before responding. Mal nodded at him, just slightly. "Don't you fret, Doctor, he ain't gonna report you. If he does, we'll vent him. Give you my word."

"And your word will be perfectly adequate protection when I'm languishing in an Alliance cell, I'm sure." Simon looked back at the passenger. It wasn't hard. The man was infernally attractive, and that smile… well, that smile did things. Things no one had done to Simon in a long time. Not even Kaylee. Maybe especially not Kaylee. "Simon Tam. Pleased to meet you, Captain." He watched carefully, but if the stranger recognized his name, he gave no sign of it.

"The pleasure is all mine, Simon." The man smiled again, and something inside Simon tightened in response. "Call me Jack."

"Jack, then." Simon held out his hand.

Jack took it, but instead of shaking it, raised it to his mouth and brushed his lips lightly over Simon's knuckles. Simon's eyes widened, and his breath caught. Jack stared up at him, eyes dancing with mischief and promises. "Oh, yeah. _Definitely_ my pleasure, Simon."

Simon stood stock-still as Jack released his hand and winked at him. There was a snort of laughter. "Looks like you're doing my chores for a week, Kaylee. Told you the doc was sly. No wonder you never got in his panties."

"He ain't!" Kaylee protested. Simon tried to ignore the exchange, which was easy enough with the passenger still watching him.

Mal sighed. "Jack, this is Jayne. Don't try that on him."

Jack grinned, and reached out for Jayne's hand. Jayne's amusement vanished abruptly, and before Simon could blink, one of the merc's largest guns was pointing directly at the passenger. He groaned, inwardly. At short range, the ammunition would make an unholy mess of the man and the cargo bay, and he knew from experience that the captain would expect him to be able to fix at least one of the two. 

Jack looked as if he'd just seen his heart's dearest desire. "Is that the Callahan? 26th century Callahan full bore?"

Jayne's frown faded slightly. "Yeah."

"The automatic?"

"Yeah."

"Standard trigger?"

"Custom." Jayne was definitely warming towards the newcomer.

"Wow." The smile flashed out again, and Simon was fairly sure he wasn't imagining that it was set at a slightly lower wattage. In fact, it made him rethink his earlier assessment. This setting was "dazzle". The one that had been aimed at him was definitely "stun".

"Can I hold her? I've read about these beauties, but I never got the chance to…"

"Long as you don't try kissing her."

"Yeah, I got it, big guy." Jack took the gun reverentially, cradling it in both hands, close to his chest. "She's yours. No fancy stuff."

"Yeah." Jayne watched intently. "Save that for the doc."

"Oh, I will."

Simon blushed furiously and fled to the safety of the infirmary.

***

"Simon."

He looked up. River was standing calmly in the doorway of the infirmary, Kaylee hovering anxiously behind her. 

"River. Are you all right?" He tried to remember if she was due for her next shot. Their passenger had shaken him completely.

"Fine. You're not." She looked him over, critically. "He's not going to report us."

"What?"

"She's right, Simon." Kaylee came past River and into the infirmary. "He ain't. Captain says Jack's got kind of a history with the Alliance. The kind of history makes him not so fond of chasing after contacting 'em."

"Jack," Simon repeated flatly, closing the drawer he'd been rearranging. 

"Yeah. He's nice." Kaylee grinned. "So, was Jayne right?"

Simon sighed. "I doubt very much if Jayne has ever been right about anything in his life."

Kaylee frowned. "Now, that's just you being mean again."

"Kaylee, Jayne and I are never going to be best friends."

"No, but you and Jack might. If Jayne's right. Don't you think?" She leaned back against the counter, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "Could be more than best friends."

"Kaylee!" Simon yelped.

"What? Could be just what you need, loosen you up some. Ain't like we ever got it together, even after what you said. Nearly did, that one time, 'til River found us. Take it Jayne's right, huh?"

Simon pushed his hair back out of his face. It was getting too long. He needed to find time to ask Inara to cut it again. "Reluctant as I am to actually say the words, yes, Jayne's right."

"Aww, spit. Means I got cleaning detail for the next two weeks now!" 

"He likes you."

Simon glanced at his sister, startled. "What?"

"He likes you. You like him." She paused, waiting for Kaylee to walk back out of the infirmary, and grabbed her hand. "You should have sex."

"River!"

Kaylee looked back over her shoulder. "She's right, y'know. You should. You and him, mmm. Now that's pretty." A dreamy smile came over her face. "River? You gonna be okay on your own a bit, sweetie? I gotta go… check something. In the engine room." She ran up the stairs and disappeared. 

River smiled at him, and winked. "Don't forget, Simon."

"Forget what?"

Simon stared in complete embarrassment as the passenger in question appeared behind River. 

River tilted her head back and studied Jack. "Yes. You don't fit, either."

"Sure I do, honey. I fit everywhere." Jack grinned.

"No." She moved away, still watching him. "Too much movement. You don't fit anywhere. Can't go back. Can't go forwards. Trapped, but you don't fit. Trapped in your own past."

Jack frowned, clearly troubled by her pronouncements. "Well, strictly speaking, it's before my own past."

"Doesn't matter. You're here now. In the past. Being the future." River flicked a quick glance at her brother. "His future."

"Mèi mèi…"

"Near future," she amended, and calmly paced away towards the cargo bay.

Simon watched Jack watch her go.

"She's your sister?"

Simon turned back to the infirmary drawers. "Yes."

"I like her. I had a sister, once. Long time ago. Well, maybe not. It's kinda muddled. She's a reader?" Jack prowled the infirmary, seeming fascinated by the supplies neatly arranged on shelves and counter-tops.

Simon froze. Opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. "Yes."

"By nature?"

"By artifice."

"Ah." Jack stopped moving, lounging against the counter. "Explains the not wanting to be found thing, then. Makes sense. Anyway, I just came to apologize for that whole show, earlier. Back in the cargo bay."

Simon faced him across the room. "You're apologizing for what, exactly? Kissing my hand?"

"Hell, no!" The infectious smile appeared again and Simon had to fight not to return it. "No. You liked that. No, for brushing you off. Don't get me wrong, a Callahan's a fine thing, but I have a personal weakness for doctors, Doctor." Pushing off of the counter, he paced across to stand too close to Simon. "And I didn't realize they didn't know."

Simon hardly dared to breathe. He could feel the heat coming from the other man's body, so close to his own. Jack was taller than him, but not by much, maybe a couple of inches, but his presence was taller. Broader, too. "Didn't know what?"

"That you sleep with men." Jack's eyes were serious. 

Simon couldn't look away. "I don't sleep with anybody, at the moment."

"But when you do, it's men."

It wasn't a question, but Simon still found himself nodding.

"Yeah, I can tell." Jack bent his head. "It stands out."

"To you, maybe."

"I'm not the only one that's noticed, Simon. That man with the cool guns and the girl's name, what was he called again?"

"Jayne?" Simon felt slightly revolted. 

"Your captain, too. Neither of them got a claim on you?" He was close enough that Simon could feel the warmth of Jack's breath playing over his face.

"No!"

Jack dropped his head a fraction further. "So no one's going to want to kill me for kissing you?"

"For…" Simon's brain refused to process the question. "No."

"Good." Jack moved closer still, hands placed on the counter either side of Simon, effectively trapping him, and waited. 

Simon blinked, trying to work out how he'd gone from a perfectly normal – well, normal for how his life was running since he'd boarded Serenity – morning of checking inventory, tracking down River and avoiding being punched, to being pressed up against the counter in his own infirmary by a man of whom he knew nothing but his name and that he was far too attractive for his own good, and enjoying it. Not just enjoying it, either, impatient for more.

"Ah. You're a thinker." Jack studied him for a moment then turned on the smile again. Simon's brain short-circuited. "Guess this is up to me, then."

Before Simon could recover enough wits to ask what "this" was, Jack's mouth covered his own, warm lips pressing gently, persuasively over Simon's. Simon rapidly discovered that however good Jack's mouth was at smiling, it was better at kissing. So much better that by the time Jack lifted his head, Simon was somewhat confused to discover that he'd wrapped his right arm around Jack's waist, his hand caressing the smooth, unscarred back muscles under the tight t-shirt, while his left hand was resting against Jack's face, fingers insinuating themselves into silky, impossibly soft brown hair. In return, Jack's hands had shifted off of the counter to pull Simon very definitely against his body, something Simon found he had no problem with at all. In fact, he liked it. Liked Jack. 

"Jack?"

"That's the first time you've said my name. I like it. Won't be the last." The smile had definitely gone up another notch. This one was blinding. 

Simon closed his eyes to avoid being blinded, and got kissed again. Jack's mouth moved, trailing kisses along Simon's jaw, down his neck, and into the hollow of his collarbone, just accessible above the neckline of his sweater. God, it felt good. Felt really good. It was far too long since anyone had touched him this way – since anyone except River or Kaylee had touched him at all, unless you counted punching. Which he didn't. Simon's hands wandered of their own volition, beginning to explore the tempting planes and strength of Jack's torso. He didn't want to stop, really didn't want to stop, definitely not when Jack's hands began to mirror his actions on his own body, and the man's hands were trailing fire, fingertips clearly distinguishable as separate points of contact, bringing all the buried need back to a level Simon couldn't ignore, but he had to. He needed to. 

"Jack, wait."

Hands stilled, heat pooling on Simon's back and at his hip. "What, you want to move this elsewhere?"

"No." Then his innate inability to lie resurfaced. "I mean, yes, but… I don't know you!"

Jack leaned back and pouted slightly. "Thought we were getting to know each other pretty well, here. Is that a smile? Yes, that's a smile. That's a good smile. I like that smile. You should do it more often."

Simon turned his head away, trying not to smile. It was impossible. Jack was impossible. "I didn't mean… Jack, I don't do casual sex. And you're a passenger. You'll only be here, what, four days? Five?"

"That was the plan," Jack agreed, still not letting go of Simon. "Still, I like this ship. She's cute. Bit rusty, but hey, she's bigger than she looks from the outside, and that's always handy. And you could turn into a really tempting reason to stay around a bit. Anyone ever tell you that you're an excellent kisser?"

Simon flushed. "I don't even know if the captain is hiring… and what do you do, anyway?"

Jack shrugged, his hands sliding over Simon's clothes as his shoulders moved. "What I can. Travel. Fly. Save the world. That sort of thing."

"Right. You save the world. Any world in particular?" Simon tried to fold his arms, realized they were still wrapped around Jack, and stopped trying.

"Well, Earth, last time. Though I hear that didn't last for long. Got any other worlds need saving?"

Simon's mouth tightened. "You're a little late for that."

"What? What'd I say? Come on, Simon, you can't just freeze up on a guy like that and not tell me what I said."

"Miranda," Simon ground out. "Shadow. Hera. Liann Juin. Every other world destroyed in the war. And Miranda."

Jack stared at him blankly. "There was a war?"

Simon glared. "The War for Unification? Little scuffle you might have noticed? Formation of the Alliance? Defeat of the Independents? You really don't want to be near the captain or Zoë near U-Day. Especially if you're going to make comments like that."

"Seriously, Simon." Jack stepped away from him. Simon straightened up, moving away from the counter. "War? I know I'm not hot on my 26th century history, but… war?"

"Who _are_ you?"

"I…travel! A lot! I'm new to this…area."

"Area?" Simon raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, okay. This century. I didn't plan on getting stuck here, okay? I'm glad I did," the smile appeared again briefly, "but it wasn't the plan."

"This _century_?" Simon stopped. " Lǎo tiān yě, that's what River meant. Stuck in the past."

"Simon – "

"You don't just travel in space, do you, Jack? You're trying to tell me – or rather, trying not to tell me – you travel in time."

"Well… yeah. Though I'd rather go back to the kissing thing and not be thinking about how my ship got trashed and I need to find a place before I run out of credit."

"Then you need to talk to the captain."

"About kissing? I thought he didn't have a claim –"

Simon closed the gap between them to lay his fingers on Jack's lips. A mistake, as heat surged through him when Jack nipped at his fingertips. He pulled his hand away rapidly. "About a place. And if you're serious about the time travel thing, take River with you to explain. He won't believe you otherwise. I'm not even sure I believe you."

"Right." Jack reached out and caught his hand. "I'll do that. But we're not finished here, Simon."

"Not casual," Simon reminded him.

"Then I'd better find a way to stick around, hadn't I?" Jack grinned, and ran from the room.

Simon sagged against the counter, trying to work out if Jack was a lunatic for believing he traveled in time, if Simon was a lunatic for thinking he believed him, or if they were both lunatics for the whole kissing thing.

He'd just about decided it was both of them, for all of those reasons, when the comm. crackled with Mal's voice demanding the presence of all crewmembers on the bridge.

***

"Ladies and menfolk, we've been flying a touch short recently. Ain't meaning no offense to River," Mal paused to aim a tight smile at the girl, who drew her knees up onto the chair and hugged them, "but she ain't trained for this, as such. So, we got us a new pilot."

The other chair, the chair that hadn't been used by Wash, swung round to reveal a grinning Jack. Simon stared, letting the welcoming comments of the others drift past him. Zoë, at his right shoulder, was silent. 

Simon turned abruptly on his heel and started down the stairs away from the noisy crowd. 

"Simon?" Jack's voice called, holding an uncharacteristic note of uncertainty. 

"Doctor." The captain's voice, commanding. 

Simon stopped, looking back over his shoulder, deciding that two captains calling him was at least one too many. 

"Ain't you gonna welcome our newest crewmember?"

Simon let his eyes travel slowly over Jack from head to toe and back again, unable to prevent a small smile tugging the corners of his mouth. "Welcome, pilot. Captain?"

Mal looked puzzled. "Something bothering you, Doc?"

"Only him."

Simon nearly made it to the doorway to the dining area before Jack caught up with him, and pressed him back against the wall, smile set to stun. Feeling it would be impolite to do anything else, Simon allowed himself to be stunned. And kissed.


End file.
